quick thinking math problem
Level
2
A petri dish kept in a lab has a colony of healthy bacteria. Every bacterium divides itself into two in exactly two minutes. Now the colony started with a single cell at 2 pm. If the petri dish was exactly half full of bacteria at 3 pm, when will the dish become full of bacteria?
5:02 pm
4:00 pm
3:00 pm
3:02 PM
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1 solution
Since every bacterium divides into two in two minutes and we know the fact that the dish was half filled with bacteria at 3 pm, after exactly 2 minutes, all will divide into two and will fill the petri dish. Thus, the petri dish will become full at 3:02 pm.